Movies That Inspire Leadership

5 Movies That Will Inspire The Leader In You

Some movies always stay with us, inspiring us in both the personal and professional worlds (like these movies for entrepreneurs). While our tastes may change after we get married and have kids, these movies just won't go away, and they continue to affect us throughout our lives.

For me, five movies stand above all the others. They made me the leader I am today and pop up when I'm in a moment of professional doubt. Check them out, and maybe they'll do the same for you:

Rocky Balboa

"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. [...] That's how winning is done!” — Rocky Balboa

This is the daddy of all father-son movie moments. It's one of the most inspirational lines from any film, ever, because it wraps guidance, inspiration, and motivation into a few sentences.

The daily balancing act of being a driven entrepreneur and being there for my kids can sometimes feel more like a spontaneous barroom brawl than a professional boxing match, but we each have to seize every opportunity to make memories with our loved ones.

Life is going to hurt. Failures, losses, and setbacks will come. It's how we handle those moments of sheer despair that define us in the long term.

The Wolf of Wall Street

“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it.” — Jordan Belfort

Some movies contain touchy-feely moments we can all relate to. The Wolf of Wall Street is not one of those movies.

It's all about finding your inner leader and being fearless when the going gets tough. Jordan Belfort is determined, driven, and working his tail off to achieve his goals. But two endings are possible with this approach, and one leaves people in ruin as priorities and respect go out the window.

This movie is as terrifying for entrepreneurs as it is exciting, and it will leave any level-headed person speechless. The message I took from it was simple: Never disrespect the rules, remember how you reached your goals, and don't lose sight of why you're striving in the first place.

Moneyball

"Hard work may not always result in success, but it will never result in regret." — Billy Beane

Moneyball is all about believing in your team. When the decks are stacked against you and the competition has endless support with an established hold on the market, how can you possibly win?

First, you have to decide that winning is within your grasp. Then, you have to find the superstars to build the team that will give you a home run.

Moneyball teaches a valuable lesson about putting together a winning team: Chemistry is essential. That doesn't mean everybody loves everybody else; it means that talent, drive, and ability all intersect with character and heart.

A team wins only when each member works together and gives maximum effort. Sometimes, that means letting go of talented people with successful track records because they're not offering 100 percent anymore.

The Lion King

"Oh, yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it." — Rafiki

The people at Disney have a way of offering magical life lessons that transcend childhood. Even before having kids, I found myself picking out Disney moments that summed up my life.

Some of my biggest successes have followed moments of despair. I've experienced failures, setbacks, losses, and disappointments. I lost loved ones and wrestled with financial challenges. But each day presents another opportunity to start fresh and try again, which is a message I share with my children.

If I chose to avoid the unpleasantness in life, I would limit the scope of what I could achieve. Sometimes I face challenges with fear, but it's not the same fear I knew as a child. Fear is now caution, and that's the result of experience and growth.

A League of Their Own

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great." — Jimmy Dugan

We all have moments when we want to quit. Frustrations, headaches, responsibilities, and the weights of all our different roles add up to become almost more than we can handle.

Some days, I find myself thinking back over everything in my life leading up to today. I faced some tough moments, and others were great, but they all played their part in encouraging me to keep going.

I don't let myself think of anything as too tough to handle. Success is about putting in the hours, and it's this dedication that separates entrepreneurs from employees.

Being a leader is not all about dinner parties and Champagne showers; it's about refusing to give up when faced with difficult decisions and never losing sight of our goals.

Daniel Wesley founded Quote.com to set the standard for simplicity when shopping for auto insurance.